Operating push button for opening joined doors in pieces of furniture



1963 G. M. J. LOMBARD 3, OPERATING PUSH BUTTON FOR OPENING JOINED DOORS IN PIECES OF FURNITURE Filed Aug. 24, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiG.2 F|G.1

3 IQ 11 E Jan. 9, 1968 G. 1.. M. J. LOMBARD 3,352,741

OPERATING PUSH BUTTON FOR OPENING JOINED DOORS IN PIECES OF FURNITURE 7 Filed Aug. 24, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 9, 1968 DOORS IN PIECES OF FURNITURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 24, 1966 United States Patent Office 3,362,741 Patented Jan. 9, 1968 3,362,741 OPERATING PUSH BUTTON FOR OPEN- ING JOINED DOORS IN PIECES OF FUR- NITURE Georges Louis Marie Joseph Lombard, 62 Cours Richard-Vitton, Lyon, Rhone, France Filed Aug. 24, 1966, Ser. No. 574,652 Claims priority, application France, Sept. 15, 1965, 46,394, Patent 1,457,629 4 Claims. (Cl. 292-3363) The present invention relates to operating push buttons for opening joined doors in pieces of furniture.

The present trend is to provide certain pieces of furniture, and more particularly those intended for kitchens, with plane, joined doors applied thereto, whereby the door surfaces take up the whole front of the piece of furniture while only the knobs or handles for opening the doors project therefrom.

On the other hand, various closing systems for doors have been devised which ensure at the same time the opening of said doors, this being generally obtained by depressing a push button.

But it is impossible to use such closing devices with pieces of furniture having applied doors, since the latter take up the whole front area of the piece of furniture, leaving no location for a push button since obviously the latter should be set on a stationary spot, that is, outside the doors.

The present invention aims at solving this problem by removing a small portion of the door area and replacing it by a push button support. At the same time, the shape and appearance of the push button may be such as to constitute an ornament.

According to one embodiment, one of the corners of the door is removed and the support for the push button is in the shape of a right-angled triangle corresponding to the removed portion of said door.

According to a further embodiment which cuts out advantageously the gap between the push button and the body of the piece of furniture, a fixed member which is nevertheless adjustable and has substantially the same dimensions as the removed portion of the door is added to the body of the piece of furniture, while the operating push button of the opening system passes through said member and includes a fitting which is adjustable by means of a sliding member.

According to a modification of the above embodiment, the operating button proper is made in a manner such that it fits accurately in the fixed member, the operating rod being thus completely concealed and the arrangement for adjusting said fixed member being transferred onto the buttton.

According to still a further embodiment which is more particularly preferred, the arrangement for adjusting the button by means of a sliding member is squeezed between the cover and the bottom of the casing, the height of the latter being reduced to a minimum and substantially lower than the thickness of the door, so that the stroke of the push button can take place, at least in part, within the thickness of the door.

Said arrangement allows advantageously the push button not to protrude too much with respect to the plane of the door front, and simplifies also the structure of the casing cover.

According to said latter embodiment, a casing is obtained which has, adjacent to the oblique cut in the door, a wall the height of which corresponds substantially to the the thickness of the door while its two other walls have their height reduced to a minimum.

The invention will now be described in further detail, with reference to the appended diagrammatic drawing which illustrates, by way of non limiting examples, a few embodiments of the operating push button of the invention. In said drawings FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a piece of furniture of the kind having a plane applied door, provided with the push button of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is, on a larger scale, a front view of the door the lower corner of which forms a push button;

FIGURE 3 is, on a still larger scale, a section along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of a first embodiment of the push button of the invention;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional View of a modification of same;

FIGURES 6 and 7 are sectional views taken on line 66 of FIGURE 7 and line 77 of FIGURE 6 respectively, in the case of another preferred embodiment.

In said figures, 1 indicates the body of the piece of furniture, while 2 indicates the door applied on said body and covering it entirely.

The lower left-hand corner of said door is cut at an angle of 45 so as to provide on the body 1 the area required for housing the push button 3 which thus takes the shape of the portion removed from said door 2.

The mechanism for the closing and opening of the door is not shown in the drawing as it is either housed in a mortise within the thickness of the wall of the body 1 of the piece of furniture or disposed in any way whatever inside said piece of furniture.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURE 3, said push button 3 is adjustably mounted, in order to allow its outer sides 4 to be accurately aligned with respect to the sides 5 of the door, by means of a screw 6 passing through an aperture 7 the clearance of which is sufiicient to allow the surface of the button shifting substantially with respect to the push proper 8, the head of said screw 6 being concealed by means of a mask 9.

According to the embodiment shown in FIGURE 4, the corner removed from the door 2 is replaced by a fixed member or casing 13 which has substantially the same dimensions. The rod 14 of the push button passes through said casing 13 with a certain amount of play so as to allow said casing being adjusted at right angles With the body 1.

The cover of the casing 13 is made of three parts, the parts 15 and 16 being mounted with a certain amount of play with respect to the rod 14, while the part 17 is a washer adapted to slide freely, although without any undue play, between the above-mentioned parts 15 and 16 so as to obturate the apertures thereof without hampering the adjustment of the position of the casing 13. When once said adjustment has been effected, the casing 13 is locked in position by means of screws 18. The push but ton proper 19 is arranged in a manner such that it wholly covers the rod 14, which allows modifying the shape or appearance of said push button without altering the basic mechanism.

According to the modified embodiment shown in FIG- URE 5, the design of the push button is difierent. The push button is constituted by a bushing 20 acting both as the cover and the button and housing in its bottom a resilient washer 21 which carries a split broach 22 held in position by a plate 23.

The split broach 22 is driven by pressure into a bore 24 in the rod 14. It will thus be appreciated that the assembly casing-button can be shifted with respect to the push of the opening control for the mechanism. The casing is locked by means of screws 18 as in the embodiment shown in FIGURE 4.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURES 6 and 7, the member or casing 25 replacing the corner removed from the door is as fiat as is conveniently feasible and triangular in shape. The side of said member which corresponds to the hypotenuse of the triangle carries a flange or wing 25 providing a protecting wall. The rod 14 carrying the push button 31 passes through said casing 25 with a play sutficient for allowing adjusting the latter at right angles with the body 1.

The casing 25 is covered by a cover 27 with an interposed washer 28 through which the rod 14 and the button 31 pass, said washer being adapted freely to slide radially within the clearance provided between the easing 25 and the cover 27. The purpose of the Washer 28 is to conceal the radial clearance provided between the push button 31 and the coaxial drillings in the casing 25 and its cover 27, without hampering, however, the adjustment of the position of the casing 25.

When once said adjustment has been effected, said casing 25 is locked in position by screws 29 and 30. As the screw 29 is mounted on the opening mechanism fitted in the piece of furniture 1, it should allow the casing 25 and the washer 28 to be moved. On the contrary, the screw 30 can be mounted in the usual way as it is screwed into the wood of the piece of furniture after the adjustment has been effected.

Obviously, it is possible to use any other corner of the door or even a portion located on the side of the door, for instance at (FIGURE 1), While remaining within the scope of the invention. Furthermore, the push button could be square or rectangular or of any other shape desired and take up, for instance, a whole side of the door. The invention is not limited to the sole embodiments thereof described hereinabove by way of non-limiting examples and covers all modifications coming within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An operating push button for opening plane joined doors applied to pieces of furniture, said push button occupying on the body of the piece of furniture the area previously filled by a portion of the door which has been removed and, said push button being provided with a sliding member for its adjustment in position, characterized by a member fastened to the body of the piece of furniture and adapted to have its position adjusted whereby said member accurately fills the empty space resulting from the removal of a portion of the door, and an actuating rod for the opening mechanism extending through said member.

2. An operating push button as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said member is a casing including a set of resilient parts which allow shifting the assembly with respect to the actuating rod so as to accommodate possible diiferences in assembling the opening mechanism.

3. An operating push button according to claim 1, characterized in that the sliding member for adjustment in position is squeezed between the cover and the bottom of the casing, the height of the latter being reduced to a minimum and substantially lower than the thickness of the door, so that the stroke of the push button can take place, at least partly, within the thickness of the door.

4. An operating push button according to claim 3, characterized in that the said casing has, adjacent to an oblique cut in the door, a wall the height of which corresponds substantially to the thickness of the door of the piece of furniture and two other walls which have their height reduced to a minimum.

References (Iited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,172,467 9/1915 Geddes 292-199 2,460,607 2/ 1949 Sullivan 74-503 2,658,375 11/1953 Allen 292336.3

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

EDWARD J. MCCARTHY, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN OPERATING PUSH BUTTON FOR OPENING PLANE JOINED DOORS APPLIED TO PIECES OF FURNITURE, SAID PUSH BUTTON OCCUPYING ON THE BODY OF THE PIECE OF FURNITURE THE AREA PREVIOUSLY FILLED BY A PORTION OF THE DOOR WHICH HAS BEEN REMOVED AND, SAID PUSH BUTTON BEING PROVIDED WITH A SLIDING MEMBER FOR ITS ADJUSTMENT IN POSITION, CHARACTERIZED BY A MEMBER FASTENED TO THE BODY OF THE PIECE OF FURNITURE AND ADAPTED TO HAVE ITS POSITION ADJUSTED WHEREBY SAID MEMBER ACCURATELY FILLS THE EMPTY SPACE RESULTING FROM THE REMOVAL OF A PORTION OF THE DOOR, AND AN ACTUATING ROD FOR THE OPENING MECHANISM EXTENDING THROUGH SAID MEMBER. 